As part of the unit Evolution: Change Through Time, my students completed a mini-lab entitled "Galapagos Finches," which I used to informally assess their understanding of natural selection and adaptations. These are all topics previously explored through video, the textbook, discussion, and online simulations.
Learning goals for this assessment include:
Students will be able to hypothesize which adaptations will be most beneficial in a specific environment.
Students will be able to analyze data and a graph to identify which adaptations were best fit for specific environments.
Students will be able to expand their knowledge and synthesize conclusions for what would happen in a different environment and explain how multiple adaptations survive.
Students will be able to write a conclusion, using vocabulary words, about the process of natural selection.
The GSE addressed by this assessment is Life Science 3: Groups of organisms show evidence of change over time. More specifically, LS3 (9-11)-8a states that "Students demonstrate an understanding of Natural Selection/evolution by illustrating that when an environment changes, the survival advantage/disadvantage of some characteristics may change."
The inquiry practices utilized in this assignment include:
Be able to identify questions and to hypothesize about scientific investigations
Communicate findings with peers and teacher(s)
Decipher what results are crucial to the experiment and analysis and which to discard
Evaluate own procedure and findings/results
B. Formal Assessment
After completing two chapters, students are assessed on their understanding of the material (outlined below) through a twenty questions multiple-choice quiz.
Half of the questions are on natural selection, adaptations, and mechanisms of change
Half of the questions are on the origin of life and the geologic timeline
Learning goals for this assessment include:
Students will be able to identify the best answer out of four choices for questions on two chapters of material.
Students will be able to answer different types of multiple-choice questions, including recall/definition, application, and interpretation.
Students will be able to show their understanding of the first two chapters in the unit Evolution: Change Through Time.
III. Assessments
A. Description of Informal Assessment
"Galapagos Finches" is a lab created for students to explore how finches with various beak shape and size are able to eat and survive. There were 5 groups of "finches," each with a different beak adaptation. The adaptations were represented by a spoon, fork, chopsticks, forceps, and hand. Each group had two foragers at a time that collected as many beans as they could in 30 seconds. There were three different types of beans - large white beans, small dark red beans, and light brown beans that were slightly larger than the red beans. One hundred of each of these beans were randomly distributed in the "grass," which was represented by two large boot mats that had about one inch plastic bristles. After each collection (one generation), the group with the lowest number of beans collected went extinct. This continued until their was one surviving finch. All of the data was collected as a class, and then students created a line graph, answered analysis questions, and wrote a conclusion independently. Having already been introduced to natural selection and the idea of adaptations needed for survival, the questions were designed to have students identify why certain beak adaptations were better fit for the grass environment, why certain bean species were eaten less (thus better fit), and using their knowledge to make predictions about what would happen if the grass was longer or shorter. To tie everything together, students wrote conclusions that described the process of natural selection. They were provided with vocab words to include. Students were assessed on the entire lab, but their answers to the analysis questions and their conclusion enabled me to evaluate each students' level of understanding of natural selection and adaptations.
Students were formally assessed on two chapters worth of material through a twenty questions quiz. Chapter 14 focused on history through time, geologic timeline, fossils, dating rocks, origin of life, and evolution of cells. Chapter 15 focused on Charles Darwin, the theory of natural selection, homologous/analogous/vestigial structures, mechanisms of change, and evolutionary genetics. The quiz was designed to test student’s understanding of said topics and served as a good evaluation point before moving on to new topics in the unit. The quiz contained a variety of twenty multiple-choice questions. These questions involved basic recall (definitions), application, and analysis, which allowed me to evaluate a deeper level of understanding, opposed to only direct memorization and recall. I created the quiz using a bank of questions from the textbook, however, some questions had to be altered because more than one choice was correct, or inaccurate information was presented. I printed two different versions of the quiz, so students sitting next to each other would not have the urge to look at their neighbor's paper. Not only were the questions in different orders, but the four choices for each question were also scrambled. Students were able to write on their quizzes, and they were instructed to record their answers on a short line at the beginning of each question. To avoid confusion, students were also instructed to use capital letters and to write clearly.
Link to Assessment: unavailable (see completed assessment below under 'sample student work')
IV. Analysis
Spreadsheet of Informal and Formal Assessment Analysis
Class context for informal assessment:
Our unit on Evolution started by covering the geologic timeline and history through rocks (dating methods). We then moved into the theory of natural selection. We did a computer lab that provided students with a background and allowed them to simulate the process of natural selection. It was after these activities, the Galapagos Finch Lab was done. This lab came at a good point because students had a background on adaptations, survival of the fittest, and why certain environments have different "best fit" adaptations.
Class context for formal assessment:
After the Finch Lab, we watched the movie Galapagos which gave students a better idea of specific adaptations and how they evolve over time. After February break we started right in on the origin of life using a guided outline for notes. Having the background of "change over time," students were able to grasp the concept of primitive cells evolving to more complex cells and organisms. Mechanisms of evolution were explored through notes, diagrams, and a computer lab. It was after all these topics were covered that the formal assessment was done. The students did a review as homework for each of the two chapters prior to the quiz. The twenty question quiz covered the topics mentioned above. After the quiz we moved on to primate evolution and took a tour through the six kingdoms.
B. Analysis of Informal Assessment
The Galapagos Finch Lab was grades out of 50 points and analyzed in the following way:
2 points for hypothesis
8 points total for completed data tables (4 data tables at 2 points each)
15 points for graph (5 points each for completeness, 5 points for data graphed accurately, 5 points for axis labels/title)
10 points for conclusion that explains the process of natural selection
The above criteria were used to split the assignment up based on importance of understanding. Since the hypothesis and data tables were done together as a class, they were only worth ten points total and the sections were evaluated on completion. This allowed me to indirectly assess student participation and attention in class during the lab. The graph, analysis questions, and conclusion were worth a total of 40 points because these sections were done individually and allowed me to assess student understanding of the lab and the concept of natural selection. Students were verbally provided with these criteria at the beginning of the lab, and I stressed the importance of how I was grading the graph, analysis, and conclusion more heavily.
Between my two college prep classes, thirty-eight Galapagos Labs were submitted and graded. The average score was a 76.42% out of 100. The lowest score was a 50 and the highest score was a 92. At first, while walking around helping my students on the lab, many students just wanted the answers and their main goal was to just get the work done. After bringing the class back together and breaking down the lab a little, more students were able to see the importance of what we were doing and how it related to all life around them, including themselves. When evaluating the labs, it was clear that most students answered the analysis questions on a basic level and many failed to answer the questions completely. For example, one question asks "Which finch became extinct first and why?," many students only answer the first part and did not elaborate on the explanation. For the conclusion, students were given a list of vocab words to use to explain in their own words the process of natural selection. On average, students incorporated all of the vocab words into their conclusion, but few were able to connect the words together logically. Overall, students were more informed on the process of natural selection and how adaptations change based on environments. They were also better able to explain the concepts verbally. Furthermore, I divided out the females and males for a second analysis. There were nineteen females and their average score was a 78% out of 100. There were eighteen males and their average score was 74.84% out of 100.
The twenty questions quiz was graded out of twenty points, with each question being worth one point. Students were verbally given these criteria at the start of the quiz. I chose these criteria to keep every question worth the same amount and to keep the grading simple. Student scores were written on their test as a number out of twenty, so they were able to divide it and figure out their grade in terms of 100%, which is a number that makes more sense to them.
Between my two college prep classes, thirty-nine quizzes were completed and graded. The average score was a 56.54% out of 100. The lowest score was a 15 and the highest score was an 85. It was evident that most students did not study or prepare well for the quiz. The quiz was announced almost two weeks in advance and homework was assigned to review topics covered on the quiz. Many students had difficulty with the questions related to topics covered earlier in the semester, which correlates to the lack of studying. I was pleased to see that most students correctly answered questions related to natural selection, which reflects their understanding of the concepts. The difficulty with multiple choice questions is that not all students were able to express their full knowledge of the topics, and many students either guessed blindly or chose the distractors. Furthermore, I divided out the females and males for a second analysis. There were twenty females and their average score was a 59% out of 100. There were nineteen males and their average score was a 53.95% out of 100.
From the Galapagos Lab I hoped to evaluate my students' understanding of natural selection through a hands-on activity. As a class, we set up a grassy environment and adaptations to mimic the feeding of finches with different beaks. Each group foraged for beans and allowed students to experience which adaptations were best fit for the grassy environment. After completing the labs and deciding on the best adaptation, I had students create a lab to see the number of different beans collected. Using this graph, I hoped to see if students were able to identify the best fit bean for the grassy environment. Many students identified that the beans eaten the least were best fit because they blended in to the environment and were more difficult for the finches to see. Some students, however, saw the beans that were consumed the most were best fit because they were easy to see. The analysis questions and conclusion allowed me to evaluate each student independently on their understanding of the lab, how well they could alter the lab to test a different environment, predict what would happen in a different environment, and how well they understood and could explain the process of evolution. Based on the information presented in class and acquired from the computer lab on natural selection, I hoped to see a better understanding of natural selection and the ability to expand on their knowledge by applying the concepts to different conditions.
B. Reflections from Formal Assessment
From the quiz I hoped to evaluate my students' understanding of two chapters of material on history through rocks, geologic timeline, origin of life, natural selection, and mechanisms of evolution. The quiz tested student understanding of the core concepts of the topics previously listed. There were twenty multiple-choice questions, with each questions having four options. Quiz questions included recall (definitions), application (applying concepts to a new situation), and analysis (interpreting graphs). I hoped to evaluate student understanding of background knowledge and understanding of the concepts. However, because the quiz was only multiple choice, students were not able to fully express their understanding and explain everything they knew about the topics. In the future, to allow students to communicate their understanding, I will ask short answer questions or create a lab based supplement where students can use the concepts they learned.
VI. Conclusions
Based on the learning objectives outlined above, I feel many of my students superficially understood the concepts and met the objectives. Specifically looking at each objective, most students were able to:
Hypothesize which adaptation would be most beneficial in a specific environment
Create a correct graph and interpret the data
Explain what would happen in a different environment with similar adaptations
Construct a basic explanation of natural selection in their own word using vocabulary words (some students were able to use vocab words properly, but were unable to connect all the words correctly)
From the informal assessment, I learned that I need to make sure I given correct and clear instructions the first time when explaining an activity. Confused students are in a difficult position to learn and grasp understanding, and usually give up on the assigned work. I also learned that I need to emphasize and stress the importance of understanding when students answer the analysis questions. I had a few students ask me why I graded them hard and why they didn't get a 100% just for completing the lab. For the formal assessment, I learned that I need to reach out to more students by including more than multiple choice questions in order to evaluate student understanding.
On both the informal and formal assessment, the females outperformed the males. The females scored about 3% higher than the males on the informal assessment and about 5% higher on the formal assessment. I was not surprised by this data because the females in my classes are the ones asking questions, asking me to clarify information, and going over/studying what we do in class for preparation for tests and quizzes. There are definitely some higher achieving males who do all of the things listed above, however, as a whole, female scores show the stronger results.
Overall, the students seemed to enjoy the Galapagos Finch Lab and they expressed that after doing the lab, the process of natural selection "made sense" to them. To have a better handle on student understanding, I would have them self-asses their learning and communicate to me what they still did not understand or what they were having difficulties with. A good time for this self-assessment would be after the Galapagos Finch Lab and before the quiz, which would enable me time to re-address necessary topics and try different explanations.
Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name: Lauren Killea
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
Formal Informal Assessments 2009
II. Description of Learning Goals
A. Informal Assessment
B. Formal Assessment
III. Assessments
A. Description of Informal Assessment
"Galapagos Finches" is a lab created for students to explore how finches with various beak shape and size are able to eat and survive. There were 5 groups of "finches," each with a different beak adaptation. The adaptations were represented by a spoon, fork, chopsticks, forceps, and hand. Each group had two foragers at a time that collected as many beans as they could in 30 seconds. There were three different types of beans - large white beans, small dark red beans, and light brown beans that were slightly larger than the red beans. One hundred of each of these beans were randomly distributed in the "grass," which was represented by two large boot mats that had about one inch plastic bristles. After each collection (one generation), the group with the lowest number of beans collected went extinct. This continued until their was one surviving finch. All of the data was collected as a class, and then students created a line graph, answered analysis questions, and wrote a conclusion independently. Having already been introduced to natural selection and the idea of adaptations needed for survival, the questions were designed to have students identify why certain beak adaptations were better fit for the grass environment, why certain bean species were eaten less (thus better fit), and using their knowledge to make predictions about what would happen if the grass was longer or shorter. To tie everything together, students wrote conclusions that described the process of natural selection. They were provided with vocab words to include. Students were assessed on the entire lab, but their answers to the analysis questions and their conclusion enabled me to evaluate each students' level of understanding of natural selection and adaptations.B. Description of Formal Assessment
Students were formally assessed on two chapters worth of material through a twenty questions quiz. Chapter 14 focused on history through time, geologic timeline, fossils, dating rocks, origin of life, and evolution of cells. Chapter 15 focused on Charles Darwin, the theory of natural selection, homologous/analogous/vestigial structures, mechanisms of change, and evolutionary genetics. The quiz was designed to test student’s understanding of said topics and served as a good evaluation point before moving on to new topics in the unit. The quiz contained a variety of twenty multiple-choice questions. These questions involved basic recall (definitions), application, and analysis, which allowed me to evaluate a deeper level of understanding, opposed to only direct memorization and recall. I created the quiz using a bank of questions from the textbook, however, some questions had to be altered because more than one choice was correct, or inaccurate information was presented. I printed two different versions of the quiz, so students sitting next to each other would not have the urge to look at their neighbor's paper. Not only were the questions in different orders, but the four choices for each question were also scrambled. Students were able to write on their quizzes, and they were instructed to record their answers on a short line at the beginning of each question. To avoid confusion, students were also instructed to use capital letters and to write clearly.IV. Analysis
Spreadsheet of Informal and Formal Assessment AnalysisA. Description of Class Context
Class context for informal assessment:
Our unit on Evolution started by covering the geologic timeline and history through rocks (dating methods). We then moved into the theory of natural selection. We did a computer lab that provided students with a background and allowed them to simulate the process of natural selection. It was after these activities, the Galapagos Finch Lab was done. This lab came at a good point because students had a background on adaptations, survival of the fittest, and why certain environments have different "best fit" adaptations.
Class context for formal assessment:
After the Finch Lab, we watched the movie Galapagos which gave students a better idea of specific adaptations and how they evolve over time. After February break we started right in on the origin of life using a guided outline for notes. Having the background of "change over time," students were able to grasp the concept of primitive cells evolving to more complex cells and organisms. Mechanisms of evolution were explored through notes, diagrams, and a computer lab. It was after all these topics were covered that the formal assessment was done. The students did a review as homework for each of the two chapters prior to the quiz. The twenty question quiz covered the topics mentioned above. After the quiz we moved on to primate evolution and took a tour through the six kingdoms.
B. Analysis of Informal Assessment
The Galapagos Finch Lab was grades out of 50 points and analyzed in the following way:- 2 points for hypothesis
- 8 points total for completed data tables (4 data tables at 2 points each)
- 15 points for graph (5 points each for completeness, 5 points for data graphed accurately, 5 points for axis labels/title)
- 15 points for analysis questions (5 questions worth 3 points each)
- 10 points for conclusion that explains the process of natural selection
The above criteria were used to split the assignment up based on importance of understanding. Since the hypothesis and data tables were done together as a class, they were only worth ten points total and the sections were evaluated on completion. This allowed me to indirectly assess student participation and attention in class during the lab. The graph, analysis questions, and conclusion were worth a total of 40 points because these sections were done individually and allowed me to assess student understanding of the lab and the concept of natural selection. Students were verbally provided with these criteria at the beginning of the lab, and I stressed the importance of how I was grading the graph, analysis, and conclusion more heavily.Between my two college prep classes, thirty-eight Galapagos Labs were submitted and graded. The average score was a 76.42% out of 100. The lowest score was a 50 and the highest score was a 92. At first, while walking around helping my students on the lab, many students just wanted the answers and their main goal was to just get the work done. After bringing the class back together and breaking down the lab a little, more students were able to see the importance of what we were doing and how it related to all life around them, including themselves. When evaluating the labs, it was clear that most students answered the analysis questions on a basic level and many failed to answer the questions completely. For example, one question asks "Which finch became extinct first and why?," many students only answer the first part and did not elaborate on the explanation. For the conclusion, students were given a list of vocab words to use to explain in their own words the process of natural selection. On average, students incorporated all of the vocab words into their conclusion, but few were able to connect the words together logically. Overall, students were more informed on the process of natural selection and how adaptations change based on environments. They were also better able to explain the concepts verbally. Furthermore, I divided out the females and males for a second analysis. There were nineteen females and their average score was a 78% out of 100. There were eighteen males and their average score was 74.84% out of 100.
Samples of Student Work
C. Analysis of Formal Assessment
The twenty questions quiz was graded out of twenty points, with each question being worth one point. Students were verbally given these criteria at the start of the quiz. I chose these criteria to keep every question worth the same amount and to keep the grading simple. Student scores were written on their test as a number out of twenty, so they were able to divide it and figure out their grade in terms of 100%, which is a number that makes more sense to them.Between my two college prep classes, thirty-nine quizzes were completed and graded. The average score was a 56.54% out of 100. The lowest score was a 15 and the highest score was an 85. It was evident that most students did not study or prepare well for the quiz. The quiz was announced almost two weeks in advance and homework was assigned to review topics covered on the quiz. Many students had difficulty with the questions related to topics covered earlier in the semester, which correlates to the lack of studying. I was pleased to see that most students correctly answered questions related to natural selection, which reflects their understanding of the concepts. The difficulty with multiple choice questions is that not all students were able to express their full knowledge of the topics, and many students either guessed blindly or chose the distractors. Furthermore, I divided out the females and males for a second analysis. There were twenty females and their average score was a 59% out of 100. There were nineteen males and their average score was a 53.95% out of 100.
Samples of Student Work
V. Commentary / Reflection
A. Reflections from Informal Assessment
From the Galapagos Lab I hoped to evaluate my students' understanding of natural selection through a hands-on activity. As a class, we set up a grassy environment and adaptations to mimic the feeding of finches with different beaks. Each group foraged for beans and allowed students to experience which adaptations were best fit for the grassy environment. After completing the labs and deciding on the best adaptation, I had students create a lab to see the number of different beans collected. Using this graph, I hoped to see if students were able to identify the best fit bean for the grassy environment. Many students identified that the beans eaten the least were best fit because they blended in to the environment and were more difficult for the finches to see. Some students, however, saw the beans that were consumed the most were best fit because they were easy to see. The analysis questions and conclusion allowed me to evaluate each student independently on their understanding of the lab, how well they could alter the lab to test a different environment, predict what would happen in a different environment, and how well they understood and could explain the process of evolution. Based on the information presented in class and acquired from the computer lab on natural selection, I hoped to see a better understanding of natural selection and the ability to expand on their knowledge by applying the concepts to different conditions.B. Reflections from Formal Assessment
From the quiz I hoped to evaluate my students' understanding of two chapters of material on history through rocks, geologic timeline, origin of life, natural selection, and mechanisms of evolution. The quiz tested student understanding of the core concepts of the topics previously listed. There were twenty multiple-choice questions, with each questions having four options. Quiz questions included recall (definitions), application (applying concepts to a new situation), and analysis (interpreting graphs). I hoped to evaluate student understanding of background knowledge and understanding of the concepts. However, because the quiz was only multiple choice, students were not able to fully express their understanding and explain everything they knew about the topics. In the future, to allow students to communicate their understanding, I will ask short answer questions or create a lab based supplement where students can use the concepts they learned.VI. Conclusions
Based on the learning objectives outlined above, I feel many of my students superficially understood the concepts and met the objectives. Specifically looking at each objective, most students were able to:- Hypothesize which adaptation would be most beneficial in a specific environment
- Create a correct graph and interpret the data
- Explain what would happen in a different environment with similar adaptations
- Construct a basic explanation of natural selection in their own word using vocabulary words (some students were able to use vocab words properly, but were unable to connect all the words correctly)
From the informal assessment, I learned that I need to make sure I given correct and clear instructions the first time when explaining an activity. Confused students are in a difficult position to learn and grasp understanding, and usually give up on the assigned work. I also learned that I need to emphasize and stress the importance of understanding when students answer the analysis questions. I had a few students ask me why I graded them hard and why they didn't get a 100% just for completing the lab. For the formal assessment, I learned that I need to reach out to more students by including more than multiple choice questions in order to evaluate student understanding.On both the informal and formal assessment, the females outperformed the males. The females scored about 3% higher than the males on the informal assessment and about 5% higher on the formal assessment. I was not surprised by this data because the females in my classes are the ones asking questions, asking me to clarify information, and going over/studying what we do in class for preparation for tests and quizzes. There are definitely some higher achieving males who do all of the things listed above, however, as a whole, female scores show the stronger results.
Overall, the students seemed to enjoy the Galapagos Finch Lab and they expressed that after doing the lab, the process of natural selection "made sense" to them. To have a better handle on student understanding, I would have them self-asses their learning and communicate to me what they still did not understand or what they were having difficulties with. A good time for this self-assessment would be after the Galapagos Finch Lab and before the quiz, which would enable me time to re-address necessary topics and try different explanations.